Baku is hosting the latest session of the special working group of deputy foreign ministers of the Caspian region countries. The representatives of Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan are discussing the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea. On the first day of the meeting hope appeared on agreement of the legal status of the sea.
Russia stands for accelerating development of the Convention ahead of the summit, so at the next summit the parties could prepare sets of serious documents.
At the moment only Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan have defined the borders of their Caspian sectors among themselves. Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Iran still cannot agree on theirs.
To come to agreement with Iran is hardly possible in the near future, as Tehran’s position is unacceptable to the other four states. It is demanding 20% of the Caspian Sea, having a short coastline. However, Iran wants to host the fifth summit of Caspian countries. In this way it can enable adoption of the project of the Convention in March 2012.
The other obstacle is contradictions between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, but they can be solved positively. This problem prevents the implementation of the Transcaspian pipeline project. Ashkhabad can come to terms, considering the importance of this pipeline for Europe and improvement of relations with the EU.
Elmira Tariverdiyea, Baku. Exclusively to VK.
